Oil-tank and pipe-line.



W. C. MERRILL.

0H. TANK AND PlP E LINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I915.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

W. C. MERRILL.

OIL TANK AND PIPE LINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE l. 1915.

Patnted Dec. 10, 1918.

- 3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

W. C. MERRILL.

GIL TANK AND PIPE LINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1. 1915.

Patented Dec; 10, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

PA NT @FFICE WILLIS C. MERRILL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE MERRILL PROCESS COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

OIL-TANK AND PIPE-LINE.

Application filed June 1, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIS C. MERRILL, of Boston, in the county of Suflolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Oil- Tanks and Pipe-Lines, of which the following is a specification.

parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a construction embodying my invention Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a main storage tank for asphalt or other materials with the heating coils within the tank and an auxiliary heater betweenthe tank and the pipe line.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the main storage tank with the auxiliary heater and main pipe line and the mechanism for heating and circulating the heatin fluid for liquefying the viscous materials in the main tank and auxiliary heater.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the mechanism for heating and circulating the heating fluid to liquefy 0r render less viscous asphalt, heavy oils or other materials to facilitate'the movement of the same fromthe tank to the auxiliary heater and thence to main pipe line or other outlet at the station.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the duplex pumping system, with the dulex auxiliary heater, for pumping from 0th or either side of the main storage tank. At the home station A there is a main storage tank A which receives the a halt, bituminous or other material throug the inlet pipe k from the stills or other source.

Near the bottom of this main tank A there is arranged a grid of piping H for heating the material in the tank and consisting of the main central headers G and J to which are connected the coiled pipes H at their opposite ends, as shown. iihese pipes H are connected at one end to the header J Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

Serial No. 31,522.

and extend outwardly toward the periphery of the tank and are'coiled and passed back over the main headers G and J and coiled and connected at their opposite ends to the header G,thus forming a complete circuit in each pipe H for the heating fluid for liquefying or rendering less viscous the asphalt, bituminous or other material in the main tank A.

This heating fluid is preferably a .mineral oil which is stored in the supply tank X and passes down through the pipe Y into the pipeZ and drawn oif by the pump a, which is operated in any suitable manner, and this heating fluid then passes b the pipe K into the inlet header J (see igs. 1 and 2) through the pipes H into the header G and from said header G into the pipe F which is coiled .as shown at, E within the auxiliary heater D. This: coil for the heating fluid medium for liquefying the heavy oils or other materials then passes out from the auxiliary heater D and is connected to the pipe C through which the heating fluid passes into the thermostatic device L and then to the gas heater V where it is coiled as shown at r to receive the heatin said heater from the as burner g of ordinary construction. This coil pipe C then passes from the heater V and 1s connected to the pipe Z which communicates with the pump a (see Fig. 3). Into this pipe Z the heatin fluid passes from the supply tank throng the pipe Y and is drawn into the pump a for circulation through the piping and heater above described for the purpose of raising the temperature of said heating fluid to liquefy the asphalt, heavy oils or other material in the main tank A and auxiliary heater D and to apply a uniform heat throughout the material under treatment owing to its continuous circulation by the pump a. r

I is a buffer head or baifle located in the auxiliary heater D in the line of; .lthe incoming material from the pipe I) and serves to break up or scatter the column of' material so as to bring its molecules more intimately into contact with the extended heating surfaces formed by the coils E through which the heating fluid is circulated.

This grid formed by the headers G, J and coiled pipes H provides an extended heating surface for imparting its heat to the mate 1 rial under treatment as it breaks up' and and through the pipe .0 to the burner q of the heater Vand the products of combustion pass out through the chimney W; The thermostatic device Lis set to operate at a predetermined temperature to control the fuel oil flowing through the pipes P and O to the burner g and when the heat of the circulating heating fluid medium flowing through the pi e C'reaches a fixed predetermined point t e spring 0 of the thermostatic device L operates the rod M to move the valve m to close the port n in the valve casing N and thus cut off the fuel supply to the burner When the temperature of the liquefied asphalt or other material flowing through the main pipe line 1) goes above a predetermined point, say for example, 200 F., the thermostatic device 0 of similar construction to the thermostatic device L operates the rod Q upwardly and closes the valve in'the valve casing P similar in construction to the valvearrangement in the valve casing N, sothat the flow of fuel supply fr'om thetank S to the burner q is controlled'by the' temperature of the circulating heating oil fiuid medium operating the thermostatic device L, and also controlled by the temperature of the liquefied asphalt or other material in the pipe line boperating the thermostatic device' a and flowing from its source of supply to its terminal. y

In the treatment of asphalt, bituminous or other materials or heavy oils the thermostatic devices L and c for controlling the flow of fuel supply from the fuel tank S to the burner g are set for example at about 200 F. which is about the temperature" which properly liquefies these materials to cause their free and easy flow and movement from the source of sup ly to the terminal, due to the fluidity pro need by the heat of the circulating heating fluid.

B is a substation along the main pipe line in which the heating and circulating apparatus similar to that shown in Fig. 3 1s located and there may be any number of these relay stations along the main pipe line b fitted with similar heating and circulating apparatus, and there may be also if desired a similar heating and circulating apparatus at the terminal to maintain the fluidity of the material from the pipe line b.

In the main pipe line b there is located the pump 2' for pumping the material through the main pipe line b and any number of these pumps may be arranged along the main line for keeping the material in circu- 'heav source of supply to the terminal. The coils forming part of the conduit for the circulation of this heating oil may be arranged in any manner found most desirable in use to facilitate the liquefaction of the asphalt, oils, bituminous or other materials requlring heat to render them liquid or less viscous, for their ready transportation.

In this system, the asphalt or other material as it comes to the tank A at the home station is heated in the tank to liquefy the same and facilitate its flow, and after it leaves the tank A it is a ain heated in smaller quantities in the auxlliary heater D and kept in continuous movement by means of the relay stations with their heating plants and usual force pumps until it reaches its terminal where another similar heating apparatus may be employed to maintain its liquefaction to cause its ready flow from the storage tanks to the tank ships, car tanks, other storage tanks, etc. If it be desired to draw off the liquefie oils at the home or a relay station the branch pipe f may be connected at d to the main pipe line'b. and after the usual hand valve e 1n the pipe line b is closed and the hand valve 8 1n the branch pipe f is opened, a force pump of usual construction may be employed to draw the material'oflf at the home or any of the relay stations for the purpose desired after which the hand valve .9 is closed and the valve 6 is opened so that the liquefied material will continue its flow through the main pipe line b. This main pipe line b may be insulated for the purpose of preventing radiation of heatv so as to conserve the heat of the flowing asphalt or other material.

The hand valve 0 may be operated if desired to control the main pipe line b so that the asphalt, heavy oils or other materials from'the tank Aniay be delayed in movement so as to be brought to a suitable temperature by the circulating and heating apparatuses to produce a ready flow of the material, after which the hand valve e may be partly. or fully-open which'will permit of a ready flow of the heated material from the tank A through the main pipe line b. A hand valve similar to the hand valve e or of any other construction may be placed in the main pipeline 6 at the outlet from each relay station so that if desired this valve may be closed from time to time and the flow re stricted or stopped until the oils or other materials at the relay station or stations reach a suitable temperature which causes a ready flow, when the valve or valves at the relay stations may be operated to allow the flow of the liquid asphalt or other material on through the main pipe line b.

This arrangement of the double thermostatic devices L and 0 provides that in case i one fails to work the other is ready and operates to produce the same result, namely, to prevent a further increase in temperature and to cause a fall in temperature below a predetermined point.

These-heating stations may be located at stored and are retained longer in the flowing asphalt or other material.

11 Fig. 4 there is shown a modification of my invention embodying duplex heating coils in the main storage tank, duplex auxiliary heaters on opposite sides of the main tank and duplex pumping system cobperating 'with both or either sides of the main storage tank for pumping off the material which has become liquefied by the heating coils in the main tank and in the auxiliary heaters.

The object of this duplex system of heating and pumping is that in the case of a large tank if it is required to draw off a large j quantity, it is safer to use this double system, so if one side or any fpart of the system breaks down there is su cient mechanism 1 left to continue in a smaller capacity. Then should it be required to draw ofi just a small amount, It is not necessary to use the whole system, but only part of it, for instance one side. Also in case of a break in any part or either side one pump could take care of both sides of the main tank.

' The main purpose of this double system of heating and pumping is to provide for a mishap or break down in any part of theinstallation so that the whole system would 1 the pipes-19 and 22 through the hand opernot be shut down, and as provided by my system the duplex of the heating'and pumping devices must be put out of order in order to stop the whole operation. Anotherrea son for the duplex heating system in the tank is that there is obtained better circulation of the heating medium through the grid inside of the tank so that there is a more equal distribution of the heat-transmitted to the material in the tank to'produce its liquefaction. Also should one side of the tank contain a better material, or any debris of any kind obstruct one side of the tank, the other side of the heating andpumping systems could be operated to draw oil" the better material or while the obstructed part of the system was receiving attentionv In Fig. 4 the main storage tank 1 is filled with asphalt, crude or other heavy oils and in starting to heat the asphalt material the heating fluid is drawn from the storage tank 4 through "the pipe 31 to the pi cs 25 and and through the hand operated valve 28 to the pump 6. The pump 6 discharges through the check valve 38 into the pipe through the hand operated valve 42 through the heater 8 containing the coil 53 through the check valve 47 and the pipe 45 (during this operation the hand valve 50 is closed) through the valve 49 into the pipe 32 through the hand valve 48 back into the storage tank 4. While this is taking place on the right hand side the heating fluid is drawn from the storage tank 4 throu h the pipe 31 through the hand operated 'vaive 27 into the pump 5 and discharged through the checkv valve 37 into the pipe 44 through the" hand operated valve 43 into the heater 7 which contains the heating coil 52 through the check valve 46 into the pipe44through the pipe 32 through the hand operated valve 48 back int-o the storage tank 4. This operation as above described is taking placeion: both sides, but it may take place on either side or through any combination of heaters as desired. v

In usual practice all the material in the tank 1 would be heated, but in my system the hand operated valve 26 and the hand operated valve 50 are opened and the hand operated valve 48 is closed, when the heating fluid discharges from the heaters 7 and 8 through the check valves 46 and 47 into the pipe 51 and then forced through the pipes 13 and 16 respectively. :The pipe .16 is coiled within the auxiliary heater 3 and the either pumps or "pipe 13 is coiled-within the auxiliary heater 2. The pipes '13 and 16 discharge respec-i tively into the coils 20 and 21 forming independent heaters in the main tank 1. ,The asphalt in the tank 1 is heated by radiation to a degree sufficient to render the same less viscous so as to flow easily from the tank. From the'independent heating coils 20 and 21 the-heating fluid is discharged through After the material is heated, as above set forth, tothe proper degree, the asphalt is drawn off through the outlets 9'-and 18 through the hand operated'valves 10 and 17 respectively, through the auxiliary heaters 2 and;3 where it is heated to a degree suificient to make it easily handled either in pipe line or in barrels or other receptacles. From the auxiliary heaters 2 and 3 it is discharged through the lines 9 and 18 respectively through the valves 11 and 12 into a common pipe 56, which can lead either to tank ships,

tank cars or other storage tanks or can be passed on through the pipe line to the terminal or terminals desired.

When itis desired to empty the heating system of the heating fiui-d hand operated valves 42 and 43 are closed and the air valves 55 and 54 opened. Then pumps 5 and 6 suck the fluid through the entire s stem and discharge through check valves 3 and 38 through hand operated valves 39 and 40 through valves 34 and 33finto pipes .35 and 36 into a common pipe-32 back to storage tank 4. This operation is continued until the system is drained of as much heating fluid as the pumps can drain and stored the tank I for further use.

It is not necessary thatboth sides of th tank 1 be heated, and through proper handlingthe valves on either side,'the material can beheated by, the fluid sent through either pump or heater on either side, for exam le, the pump 5 could draw from thetank 4, ischargethrough the heater 8 and heatthe material in the auxiliary heaters 22 or 3.

continuous body of heating liquid extending through said receptacle, means for heating said body of heating liquid having a liquid fuel burner, mechanical means to circulate said heating liquid, a liquid fuel supply for said burner, and a pipe connecting said dis-- 'tributing pipe with said fuel supply.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 28th day of May A. D. 1915. I

WILLIS o. MERRILL; 

